Hardworking single moms, adorable kids and homesick expats got exactly what they wanted for the holidays, courtesy of brands that designed prank-style gift-giving extravaganzas.

Calculated marketing move, you say? Oh lighten up, Ebenezer, and revel with the rest of us in a trend that’s become known unofficially as Punk’d with Positivity.

The ads and videos that capture these stunts are now a seasonal staple, with more brands jumping into the fray each year, one-upping each other with their largess and sentimentality.

“There’s nothing subtle or low key about any of these efforts,” said Larry Dobrow, contributing writer at MediaPost who reviews brand-created content and has noted, tongue in cheek, the current “mirth overload.” “Every brand that did one of these stunts went big. Really big.”

Just when you thought you couldn’t be impressed by another gesture of goodwill, for instance, Break.com and Gallo’s Barefoot Wine put a renovated roof over a struggling family’s head, and JC Penney turned its customers into not-so-secret Santas, doling out presents to delighted fellow shoppers.

What’s not to love? Even those ubiquitous Internet naysayers, the trolls, seem to give these videos a pass.

Canadian airline WestJet has paved the way in recent years with some of the most touching surprises, including this season’s takeover of a hardscrabble village in the Dominican Republic. Gifts for the residents ran the gamut from washing machines and horses to a permanent playground for the local children.

“It’s not about making you cry,” Marian said, “it’s about making you feel joy.”

The agency created the current campaign for UPS that gave toys to disadvantaged kids, brought artificial snow to South Texas and hired a Colorado boy as a (pretend) delivery driver. Next up: Sending 20,000 books to Malawi and fulfilling a wish submitted by the public through #WishesDelivered.

It could be the current crummy state of world affairs that is making these videos so popular, with people searching for good news amid the bad and sharing heart-tugging examples with their friends through social media. The videos are sure-fire clickbait.

Or companies may be responding to consumers who say they’re more likely to buy from purpose-driven brands.

In any case, brands are continuing to spread the cheer. Here are some highlights in emotional holiday prankvertising:

Barefoot Wine & Bubbly/Break.com/Prank it FWD/She’s Got it Maid

Cara Simmons, a single mother of three, works nonstop at her housecleaning job, even when she’s suffering from exhaustion and other health problems. Break.com and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, as part of an ongoing Prank it FWD campaign, stepped in to give Simmons a "Queen for a Day" experience.

But not only did she eat fancy food and snag designer outfits, Simmons got a home to call her own. And she just thought she was there to tidy the place.

Executives at Barefoot Wine, which has a history of community involvement and donating its product to nonprofit groups, heard about a previous Prank it FWD stunt and sought out the campaign’s first brand sponsorship.

“She’s Got it Maid,” landed the company some major national press attention and “hundreds of thousands of social interactions,” including a share by social media rock star George Takei, said Elizabeth Windram, brand manager. The video has racked up 5.6 million views on YouTube.

“This isn’t just something we’ll do for the holidays or for this year, or because it’s trendy and other brands are doing it,” Windram said. “Giving is part of our brand DNA, so it’s something we’ll stick with.”

She’s clearly interested in revisiting this kind of cryvertising.

“We don’t do traditional advertising, and pranks tell a great story, positive pranks even more so,” she said. “We love to see good things happen in the world.”

UPS/#Wishes Delivered

Dobrow pointed out the “unbearable cuteness” of the UPS ad featuring 4-year-old Carson, who bonded with his local delivery driver, who he calls Mr. Ernie. And Marian noted that, “very few people dislike it.”

You’d have to be a Grinch to not be moved at seeing the little boy’s face light up when the UPS delivery truck appears. He aspires to drive one someday, but in the meantime, the company gave him a pint-sized version so he could deliver cookies and other treats to his neighbors.

“If we had cast it, we couldn’t have done better than the real people,” Marian said. “I think people are responding to it so much because it’s a real story about a beautiful relationship.”

The video has racked up nearly 2 million views, and #WishesDelivered has drawn in roughly 9,000 wishes from the public, ranging from the universal (peace on earth) to the personal (families reuniting). Ogilvy and UPS executives are sorting through them now and deciding whose wish comes next.

Air Canada/Gift of Home

Go have a pint at the pub, and end up with a plane ticket home for the holidays? That’s what happened to a boisterous group of Canadians out for a drink in England, where they’re caught on camera talking about how homesick they are.

Pilots and crew members from Air Canada show up with pockets full of round-trip tickets. Hugging, high-fiving and weeping ensue.

The stunt, from ad agency JWT New York, has snagged more than 2.2 million views on YouTube.

JCPenney/#JustGotJingled

In the true pay-it-forward spirit, retailer JCPenney launched a program as part of its #JustGotJingled holiday campaign that had people giving gifts to random strangers in the store.

Go ahead, they’d say, pick out anything you want. No limits on price or merchandise. Predictably, the strangers thought they were being punk’d in a rather un-holiday way. But when they realized it was real, they were thrilled and touched.

As for those doing the giving? Their reactions, too, brought the message to life about what’s really the greater gift. The ad, from EVB and Victors & Spoils, has logged more than 1 million YouTube views.

Walmart and Coca-Cola/”Earn It”

This co-branded Coca-Cola/Walmart ad isn’t a prank, exactly, but it is a surprise. The twist ending – no spoilers here – shows that a teenager’s work and sacrifice wasn’t just for himself.

The ad, dubbed "Earn It" from FitzCo//McCann, is a temperamental cousin to Apple's recently launched 90-second commercial meant to celebrate the beauty in shared moments.

It’s also a direct descendant of a memorable Christmas commercial from British retailer John Lewis from a few years back that has gathered more than 7 million YouTube views. The impatient little boy at the center of the ad has more altruistic things on his mind than it may first appear. The reveal will melt even the iciest of hearts.